Printing apparatus, method for controlling printing apparatus, and program

ABSTRACT

A printing apparatus is provided to prevent, when an error has occurred while a print job is being executed, information leakage without significantly reducing usability. A printing apparatus capable of storing a plurality of print jobs identifies, when the error has occurred while the print job is being executed, another print job which is printable, among the stored other print jobs. The printing apparatus cancels the print job, which is being executed when the error has occurred and the identified print job, based on a predetermined time which has elapsed in a state where an error is occurring.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a printing apparatus that controlsexecution of a print job, a method for controlling the printingapparatus, and a program.

Description of the Related Art

Conventionally, a printing apparatus, which controls execution of aprint job, has been known. Examples of the print job include a PageDescription Language (PDL) job input from a client computer thatcommunicates with the printing apparatus via a network.

In the printing apparatus, an interruption factor (interruption event)of the print job, such as an error, can occur while the print job isbeing executed. If the interruption event that has occurred is “nosheet”, for example, the execution of the print job is interrupted, andis not resumed unless a user replenishes sheets. On the other hand,Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-134122 discusses atechnique of preferentially executing a print job while a precedingprint job remains interrupted when an event “no sheet” has occurred.This can prevent reduction of the entire processing efficiency caused bya prolonged time during which a printing apparatus is suspended.

On the other hand, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-76028discusses an authentication printing function of setting a password fora print job on the side of a client computer serving as a transmissionsource of the print job and executing the print job on the conditionthat a corresponding password is input on the side of a printingapparatus.

As described above, when the interruption event has occurred while theprint job is being executed, if the succeeding job is preferentiallyexecuted, the reduction of entire processing efficiency can beprevented. However, aside from such a matter, a problem can also occurwhen the interrupted print job is left as it is for a long time.

For example, when there has been no A4-size sheet while a print job forprinting an image on A4-size sheets is being executed, and A4-sizesheets remain unreplenished for a long period of time, the interruptedprint job is left unattended. To leave the print job for a long time isnot preferable from the viewpoint of security particularly when acontent printed based on the print job includes confidentialinformation.

On the other hand, if an interruption event occurs while a print job isbeing executed, the execution of the print job can be automaticallycanceled. Further, if not only the print job but also other print jobsthat are on standby at that time, are canceled, a security risk can befurther reduced. This is because it is not easy for an owner of anotherprint on standby to predict when the interruption event is resolved orwhen the print job causing the interruption event is canceled. Ifprinting is performed at unintended timing, it is likely that a printedproduct is easily viewed by others.

However, the print jobs, which are holding steady, may include the printjob which does not immediately proceed to the printing even if theinterruption event is resolved or the print job causing the interruptionevent is canceled. More specifically, with respect to the print job intowhich the password has not yet been input on the side of the printingapparatus among the print jobs using the above described authenticationprinting function, the printing is not performed even if the precedingjob is ended or is canceled. More specifically, a security risk isrelatively low from the viewpoint of leakage of confidentialinformation. Nevertheless, when all the print jobs are automaticallycanceled when the interruption event has occurred, the canceled printjobs need to be transmitted again from the client computer, which takestime and labor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a technique herein disclosed, when an interruption event ofa print job has occurred while the print job is being executed,information leakage can be prevented without significantly reducingusability.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a printing apparatusincludes a storage unit configured to store a plurality of print jobs, aidentifying unit configured to identify, when an interruption event ofthe print job has occurred while the print job is being executed,another print job, which is printable, among the other print jobs storedin the storage unit, and a control unit configured to cancel the printjob, which is being executed when the interruption event has occurredand the print job identified by the identifying unit, based on apredetermined time which has elapsed in a state where the interruptionevent is occurring.

Further features of the present invention will become apparent from thefollowing description of exemplary embodiments with reference to theattached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an overall view of a system including a printing apparatusaccording to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram of a job management queue in theexemplary embodiment.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of an operation screen displayed by apersonal computer (PC) in the exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of an operation screen displayed by theprinting apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of an operation screen displayed by theprinting apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of an operation screen displayed by theprinting apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the printingapparatus according to the exemplary embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

An exemplary embodiment will be specifically described below withreference to the drawings. The following exemplary embodiment is notintended to limit the invention according to claims, and allcombinations of features described in the exemplary embodiment are notnecessarily essential for a solution to the invention.

FIG. 1 is an overall view of a system including a printing apparatus 101serving as an example of a printing apparatus according to the presentdisclosure. The printing apparatus 101 includes a controller unit 102, adisplay unit 103, an operation unit 104, a printer unit 105, and ascanner unit 106. The display unit 103 includes a light emitting diode(LED) and a liquid crystal display, and displays an operation contentperformed by a user and an internal state of the apparatus. Theoperation unit 104 receives the user's operation via a hard key group ora touch panel function of the display unit 103.

The printer unit 105 receives a printing instruction from the controllerunit 102, and prints an image on a sheet based on image data transmittedfrom the controller unit 102. The printer unit 105 includes a fixingunit for fixing an image (toner image) transferred onto the sheet. Theprinter unit 105 can print the image on sheets of a plurality of sizesincluding an A4 size and an A3 size. The sheets include recording mediasuch as plain paper, thick paper, and a transparent film.

The scanner unit 106 receives a reading instruction from the controllerunit 102, reads an image on a document, and transmits obtained imagedata to the controller unit 102. The printer unit 105 can performprinting based on the image data generated by the scanner unit 106.

The controller unit 102 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 107, aread-only memory (ROM) 108, a random access memory (RAM) 109, a harddisk drive (HDD) 110, and an electrically erasable and programmable readonly memory (EEPROM) 111. The CPU 107 is a means for executing a controlprogram contained in the printing apparatus 101, and controls anoperation of devices connected to the controller unit 102 via eachinterface (I/F) or a memory for recording media. The ROM 108 stores aboot program for starting up the system. The RAM 109 is a volatilememory, and is used as a work memory when the control program isexecuted.

The HDD 110 is a storage medium such as a magnetic disk, and stores acontrol program and image data. The EEPROM 111 is a nonvolatile memory,and stores a setting value necessary when a control program is executed.Information (a sheet size and a sheet type) about each sheet holdingunit is stored in the EEPROM 111.

The CPU 107 can receive Page Description Language (PDL) data from apersonal computer (PC) 113 which is an external apparatus communicablyconnected to the printing apparatus 101 via a local area network/widearea network (LAN/WAN) 112 and cause the printer unit 105 to performprinting based on the received PDL data (a PDL job). The PDL data iscreated by a printer driver installed into the PC 113 serving as a hostcomputer.

While the one CPU 107 performs each of processes illustrated in aflowchart described below, using one memory (RAM 109) in the printingapparatus 101, the printing apparatus 101 may have another form. Forexample, each of the processes can also be performed by causing aplurality of CPUs and a plurality of RAMs, hard disk drives (HDDs) andsolid state drives (SSDs) to cooperate with each other. Alternatively,some of the processes described below, may be performed using a hardwarecircuit such as an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC).

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram of a job management queue 200 which theprinting apparatus 101 uses to manage a print job. A print job includingimage data and a print setting is stored in the HDD 110 or the RAM 109.The HDD 110 or the RAM 109 can store a plurality of print jobs, andwhile one of the print jobs is being executed, the other print jobs canbe in a standby state without being executed. In the job managementqueue 200, the print jobs are managed while being arranged in an inputorder (the order in which the printing apparatus 101 receives the printjob).

In an illustrated example, a job 1 (201) is being currently executed,and is followed by a job 2 (202) and a job 3 (203). When the executionof the job 1 (201) ends, a print job immediately succeeding the job 1(201) usually starts to be executed. However, in the illustratedexample, in the job 2 (202) immediately succeeding the job 1 (201), apassword for authentication printing is set, and authentication has notyet been performed (a password input is waited for). Therefore, printingis not immediately performed.

Authentication printing will be described below. Authentication printingis a function of setting a password by a user who is an owner of a printjob on the side of a client computer (the PC 113) serving as atransmission source of the print job and executing the print job on thecondition that the password is input on the side of the printingapparatus 101. By setting the password, the printing is prevented frombeing performed while the user operating the client computer moves to aninstallation location of the printing apparatus 101. Therefore, a riskthat a printed product is viewed by others can be avoided.

FIG. 3 illustrates an operation screen displayed on a display providedin the PC 113 when a password relating to authentication printing isset. The user of the PC 113 (an owner of a print job) inputs anypassword to an input column 301. The password can include a characterstring that is a mixture of alphabetic characters and numbers, asequence of only numbers, or a combination of signs.

FIG. 4 illustrates an operation screen displayed on the display unit 103when a print job to which a password for authentication printing is setis selected. A list of print jobs to which a password for authenticationprinting is set is displayed, and a user selects the print job based onwhich printing is performed from among the displayed print jobs. Theoperation screen illustrated in FIG. 4 shifts to an operation screenillustrated in FIG. 5 in which one print job is selected.

FIG. 5 illustrates an operation screen displayed on the display unit 103when a password for authentication printing is input. The user inputs apassword, which has been set for a print job on the side of the clientcomputer, into an input column 501. The controller unit 102 (the CPU107) compares a password set for a selected print job with the passwordinput to the input column 501. If both passwords match each other, theprint job shifts to an executable state. More specifically, a state ofthe print job shifts from “authentication waiting” to “on standby”(“executing” if there is no print job that is being executed).

Referring to FIG. 2 again, when the execution of the job 1 (201) ends,the job 2 (202) immediately succeeding the job 1 (201) is in a state“authentication waiting”. Therefore, the job 3 (203) succeeding the job2 (202) is executed. The job 3 (203) is a print job in which a passwordfor authentication printing is not set or which has already beenauthenticated. If all the print jobs existing in the job managementqueue 200 are in the state “authentication waiting”, printing is notperformed. If an interruption factor (interruption event) of the printjob, such as an error, has occurred while the print job is beingexecuted, the execution of the print job is interrupted, and is notresumed until the error is resolved. The other print jobs in the jobmanagement queue 200 remain in a standby state. The interruption eventis hereinafter simply referred to as an error.

“Automatic cancel” of a print job will be described below. FIG. 6illustrates an operation screen displayed on the display unit 103 when asetting relating to “automatic cancel” is performed. If an error hasoccurred while a print job is being executed, the execution of the printjob is interrupted, and is not resumed until the error is resolved, asdescribed above. In this case, when the error remains unresolved for along time, the print job is left interrupted. This state is notpreferable from the viewpoint of security particularly when a contentprinted according to the print job includes confidential information.

In view of this point, the printing apparatus 101 has an “automaticcancel” function for cancelling a print job. “Automatic cancel” is afunction of automatically canceling the interrupted job when an errorhas occurred while a print job is being executed and the execution ofthe print job remains interrupted for a predetermined period of time Ifemphasis is placed on security, in cancelling the interrupted print jobother print jobs existing in the job management queue 200 at that time,are canceled together. This is because it is not easy for owners of theother print jobs standing by, to predict when the error is resolved orwhen the print job causing the error is canceled t. When printing isperformed at an unintended timing, a printed product is easily viewed byothers. However, among the other print jobs existing in the jobmanagement queue 200, the print jobs which are not printable, are notcanceled, as described below.

On or OFF can be selected using “automatic cancel” of an item 601 in theoperation screen illustrated in FIG. 6. If “automatic cancel” is set toON, a predetermined time length (a period of time T1) can be set usingan item 602. Only the manager of the printing apparatus 101 can operatethe operation screen illustrated in FIG. 6. The user needs to beauthenticated as a manager in order to display the operation screenillustrated in FIG. 6.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating operations relating to execution of aprint job when “automatic cancel” is set to ON. Each of the operations(steps) illustrated in the flowchart of FIG. 7 is implemented when theCPU 101 in the printing apparatus 101 executes a control program storedin the ROM 108.

In step S701, the CPU 107 determines whether a print job exists in thejob management queue 200. If the print job exists (YES in step S701),the processing proceeds to step S702. In step S702, the CPU 107determines whether a print job at the head of the job management queue200 remains printable. The above described “authentication waiting” and“on standby” respectively mean an unprintable state and a printablestate. If the print job at the head is printable, the processingproceeds to step S703. If the print job is not printable, the processingproceeds to step S706.

In step S703, the CPU 107 prints one page based on the print job. Instep S704, the CPU 107 determines whether any error has occurred whichrestricts the execution of the print job. If the error has occurred (YESin step S704), the processing proceeds to step S707. If the error hasnot occurred (NO in step S704), the processing proceeds to step S705.

In step S705, the CPU 107 determines whether the print job, which isbeing executed, has been ended (printing of all pages has beencompleted). If the print job, which is being executed, has been ended(YES in step S705), the processing proceeds to step S706. If the printjob, which is being executed, has not been ended (NO in step S705), theprocessing returns to step S703. In step S703, the CPU 107 prints asubsequent page. In step S706, the CPU 107 refers to the job managementqueue 200, and determines whether there is a subsequent job. If thesubsequent job exists (YES in step S706), the processing returns to stepS702. In step S702, the CPU 107 determines whether the print job isprintable. If print jobs exist in the job management queue 200, and notall the print jobs are printable, the processing does not end, and theCPU 107 waits until any one of the print jobs enters a printable state.

In step S707, the CPU 107 determines whether the error that has occurredhas been resolved. If the error that has occurred is “no sheet”, theuser replenishes sheets and the error is resolved. If the error that hasoccurred is “no toner”, the user replenishes toner to resolve the error.If the error that has occurred is a “sheet jam”, the user removes ajammed sheet to resolve the error. If the error that has occurred hasbeen resolved (YES in step S707), the processing returns to step S703.In step S703, the CPU 107 prints a subsequent page. On the other hand,if the error that has occurred has not been resolved (NO in step S707),the processing proceeds to step S708. In step S708, the CPU 107determines whether a predetermined period of time T1 has elapsed sincethe error occurred.

If the predetermined time T1 has elapsed (YES in step S708), theprocessing proceeds to step S709. If the predetermined time T1 has notelapsed (NO in step S708), the processing returns to step S707. If“automatic cancel” is set to OFF, the CPU 107 waits until the error isresolved regardless of an elapse of the predetermined time T1. In stepS709, the CPU 107 cancels a print job causing the error (a print jobthat has been interrupted due to the occurrence of the error).

In step S710, the CPU 107 determines whether the print job, which isprintable, exists among the other print jobs in the job management queue200. If the print job, which is printable, exists in the job managementqueue 200 (YES in step S710), the CPU 107 identifies the print job. Instep S711, the CPU 107 cancels the identified print job. At this time,the print job, which is not printable, is not canceled.

As described above, if emphasis is placed on security in “automaticcancel” of the print job, in cancelling the interrupted print job, theother print jobs existing in the job management queue 200 at the timepoint, are also canceled together. However, even if the error isresolved in the print job that is not printable, or the print jobcausing the error is canceled, printing is not immediately performed.Therefore, a security risk is not so high from the viewpoint of leakageof confidential information. Nevertheless, when all the print jobs areautomatically canceled based on the occurrence of the error, thecanceled print jobs need to be retransmitted from the client computer,which takes time and labor. In view of this point, in the presentexemplary embodiment, among the other print jobs existing in the jobmanagement queue 200, the print job which is printable is canceled, andthe print jobs which are not printable, are not canceled.

In step S712, the CPU 107 determines whether the print job which is notprintable, exists. If the print job which is not printable, exists (YESin step S712), the processing returns to step S702. In step S702, theCPU 107 waits until the print job enters a printable state. If the printjob which is not printable, does not exist (i.e., if no print job existsin the job management queue 200 (NO in step S712), the processing ends.

As described above, the printing apparatus 101 according to the presentexemplary embodiment includes storage units (the HDD 110 or the RAM 109and the job management queue 200) capable of storing a plurality ofprint jobs. When the error has occurred while the print job is beingexecuted, the printing apparatus 101 identifies a print job which isprintable, from among the other print jobs stored in the storage unit.The printing apparatus 101 cancels the print job which is being executedwhen the error has occurred and the identified print job, based on apredetermined time which has elapsed in a state where an error isoccurring.

Thus, when the error has occurred while the print job is being executed,information leakage can be prevented without significantly reducingusability.

In the above description, the print job in which the password forauthentication printing has been set and which has not yet beenauthenticated (into which the password has not yet been input) ishandled as a print job that is not printable. The print job in which thepassword for authentication printing has been set and which has alreadybeen authenticated (into which the password has already been input) orthe print job in which the password for authentication printing has notbeen set is handled as a print job that is printable. Howeveralternatively, it may be determined whether the print job is printable,under another condition. For example, the specific print job, which theuser of the printing apparatus 101 has explicitly instructed theprinting apparatus 101 to suspend, may be handled as a print job that isnot printable.

Whether to cancel the other print jobs which are not printable when theerror has occurred, may be set on the operation screen illustrated inFIG. 6. If the other print job which is not printable when the error hasoccurred, is set to be canceled, the determination in step S710 isomitted, and all the print jobs in the job management queue 200 arecanceled in step S711.

According to the present technique, when the interruption event of theprint job has occurred while the print job is being executed,information leakage can be prevented without significantly reducingusability.

Other Embodiments

Embodiment(s) of the present invention can also be realized by acomputer of a system or apparatus that reads out and executes computerexecutable instructions (e.g., one or more programs) recorded on astorage medium (which may also be referred to more fully as a‘non-transitory computer-readable storage medium’) to perform thefunctions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/orthat includes one or more circuits (e.g., application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC)) for performing the functions of one or moreof the above-described embodiment(s), and by a method performed by thecomputer of the system or apparatus by, for example, reading out andexecuting the computer executable instructions from the storage mediumto perform the functions of one or more of the above-describedembodiment(s) and/or controlling the one or more circuits to perform thefunctions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s). Thecomputer may comprise one or more processors (e.g., central processingunit (CPU), micro processing unit (MPU)) and may include a network ofseparate computers or separate processors to read out and execute thecomputer executable instructions. The computer executable instructionsmay be provided to the computer, for example, from a network or thestorage medium. The storage medium may include, for example, one or moreof a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM),a storage of distributed computing systems, an optical disk (such as acompact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), or Blu-ray Disc (BD)™),a flash memory device, a memory card, and the like.

While the present invention has been described with reference toexemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of thefollowing claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as toencompass all such modifications and equivalent structures andfunctions.

This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No.2015-190466, filed Sep. 28, 2015, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

What is claimed is:
 1. A printing apparatus comprising: a storing unitconfigured to store a plurality of print jobs including a first printjob which requires an authentication for instruction to execute thefirst print job; and a controller configured to cancel a second printjob included in the plurality of print jobs in a case where apredetermined event occurs in an execution of the second print job,wherein the controller is configured to determine whether or not thefirst print job is instructed to be executed, and cancel the first printjob which is instructed to be executed on a basis of the determination.2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controlleris configured to keep the first print job before the authentication isperformed stored in the storing unit without cancelling the first printjob.
 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprisingan authentication unit configured to perform the authentication based ona user's operation.
 4. The printing apparatus according to claim 3,wherein the authentication unit is configured to perform theauthentication based on a password input by the user.
 5. A printingapparatus comprising: a storage unit configured to store a plurality ofprint jobs; a identifying unit configured to identify, when aninterruption event of the print job has occurred while the print job isbeing executed, another print job which is printable, from among theother print jobs stored in the storage unit; and a control unitconfigured to cancel the print job which is being executed when theinterruption event has occurred, and the print job identified by theidentifying unit, based on a predetermined time which has elapsed in astate where the interruption event is occurring.
 6. The printingapparatus according to claim 5, wherein the control unit does not cancela print job which is not identified by the identifying unit among theother print jobs stored in the storage unit.
 7. The printing apparatusaccording to claim 5, further comprising an input unit configured toinput a password, wherein the print job in which a password has been setamong the print jobs stored in the storage unit, shifts to a printablestate when the password input by the input unit matches the setpassword.
 8. The printing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein theidentifying unit identifies the print job in which a password has notbeen set, from among the other print jobs stored in the storage unit. 9.The printing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the identifyingunit identifies a print job, to which a password has been set, among theother print jobs stored in the storage unit and into which a password,which matches the set password, has already been input by the inputunit.
 10. The printing apparatus according to claim 7, furthercomprising a receiving unit configured to receive from an externalapparatus, which is communicable with the printing apparatus via anetwork, the print job to which a password has been set in the externalapparatus, wherein the storage unit stores the print job received by thereceiving unit.
 11. The printing apparatus according to claim 5, whereina setting unit configured to set whether the control unit cancels theprint job.
 12. The printing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein thesetting unit includes a unit configured to set length of thepredetermined period of time.
 13. A method for controlling a printingapparatus comprising a storage unit configured to store a plurality ofprint jobs, the method comprising: identifying, when an interruptionevent of the print job has occurred while the print job is beingexecuted, another print job, which is printable, among the other printjobs stored in the storage unit; and canceling the print job, which isbeing executed when the interruption event has occurred and theidentified print job, based on a predetermined time which has elapsed ina state where the interruption event is occurring.